Hospital gown



May 19, 1959 c. A. MATTHEWS HOSPITAL GOWN Filed Dec. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR a/m/v fl. 777/67145,

ATTORNEYL5 May 19, 1959 c. A. MATTHEWS HOSPITAL GOWN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 27, 1957 United States Patent ()fiice 2,885,822 Patented May 19, 1959 HOSPITAL GOWN Clinton A. Matthews, Paris, Tenn.

Application December 27, 1957, Serial No. 705,552

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-114) This invention relates to a hospital gown for patients.

The bed attire presently in use is often difficult to change and becomes uncomfortable beneath the patient due to a wrinkling and gathering tendency of the excess material between the patient and the bed. This condition is aggravated by the fact that there is no means to hold the gown over the lower portion of the body.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a gown of improved design to facilitate the dressing of patients, that due to their condition, are either difficult to move or dangerous to move. This invention requires only a slight raising of the patient to place the garment on him.

A further object of the invention is to relieve the nncomfortableness caused by wrinkling and gathering beneath the patient by removing excess material at the proper places.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved design to facilitate and simplify the administering of basic nursing needs, such as bed pans and rub-downs.

To accomplish the objects, the invention provides a front panel extending to between the ankles and knees of the patient and a shortened back panel which covers the patients shoulders down to approximately the small of the back. This construction alone would not be completely satisfactory for the front panel would tend to creep and shift off the patients body. Therefore, to permit the completely satisfactory use of the above construction, the invention provides means for fastening the lower portion of the front panel to the legs of the patient so that, regardless of the activity of the patient, the gown remains in proper position giving the patient maximum covering.

A further object of the invention is to provide leg fasteners which will help in maintaining the gown in the proper covering position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gown with a shortened rear section and a leg fastening arrangement cooperating with the shortened rear section to provide a comfortable gown and one which keeps the wearer covered.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a gown, embodying the above improvements, which still maintains in the patient a feeling of sufiicient covering.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bed garment that, when worn and viewed from the front, will give a pleasing appearance as well as provide a covering for preventing the catching of cold due to the exposure of the upper portions of the body.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following description and claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view showing the gown on a patient.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the gown shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view of the leg strap in particular.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of a modified form of the invention wherein the leg loops are formed from the gown itself.

Fig. 5 is a front view of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 of a further modification of the invention having an opening along the side of the garment.

Fig. 7 is a front view of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, the invention comprises a hospital gown generally designated by the numeral 12. Referring to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 through 3, the gown 12 consists of a front section or panel comprising top portion 14 and skirt portion 16, and back panel designated at 18. The back portion is joined to the front panel at seams 13 and 15 to form arm openings. The skirt portion 16 extends to the vicinity of the calf of the wearer while the back section. 18 extends to the small of the back of the wearer.

Fig. 2 shows in dotted lines the gown lengthened to a point about three to six inches above the ankles. The skirt 16 may be advantageously lengthened in this manner in all three embodiments if so desired. It has been found that many patients prefer the longer length. The fastener arrangement works equally well at this position. The fastener arrangement is disturbed less by knee movement in this lower position.

The short back panel 18 covers the back of the patient, keeping him warm, while removing the cause of the uncomfortableness of wrinkling and gathering beneath the patient. The design as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 also permits easy dressing of the patient due to the shortness of the rear section 18. All that is required is a.

slight raising of the trunk of the patient, bending at the hips, to slip the garment over his shoulders.

An important aspect of the invention is the arrangement by which the front skirt section is fastened to the body of the patient. As best shown in Fig. 3, these means comprise belt element 20, button 22, slot 24 :and buttonhole 26. These fasteners jointly cooperate with the short back in a manner that provides a full covering effect in the front part of the wearer, while permitting comfort and the other advantages of the short back section. These fasteners will receive a great deal of stress, depending on the activity of the patient. The applicant has provided reinforcing stitching and overlapping where the stress will be greatest. Fig. 3 shows the strap hole being reinforced at 25, the strap reinforced at 21, and the button holes at 27.

As can be seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, strap 20 may be threaded through slot 24 and wrapped around the patients leg and buttoned in the proper hole 26. The large arm openings 28 and large neck opening 30, permit the gown to be easily placed on the patient.

Note how back section 18 extends suiiiciently over the back of the wearer to give a feeling of being dressed and yet not added to the wrinkling and gathering which is prevalent in gowns with longer backs.

The hospital gown shown by the modification in Figs. 4 and 5, has the added improvement of more fully covering the upper trunk and shoulders of the wearer and has a simpler leg fastening arrangement. This modification also has a front opening which in combination with the short back section permits the patient to slip into the gown with a minimum of movement. The leg fasteners are even more important in this modification due to the increased effect of shoulder and arm movement pulling the garment from its proper covering position.

More specifically, the gown has a placket 32 which extends from a neck opening 34 approximately half way down the length of the front section. As in the first embodiment, the gown has a skirt 38 of the front section extending below the bottom of the rear section.

side 40.

The front skirt section tabs 36 formed by making a cut at 48 from the middle of bottom side 40 and normal to said side 4i! for approximately six inches. At the point where cut 48 terminates, there is another cut at 50 parallel to the bottom 40 and extending toward sides 42 and 4-4, creating the tabs 36, which will be long enough to form a fold that may be brought under the patents leg and fastened on the outside edge of both sides of the skirt. The fasteners used on all gowns are of the conventional gripper type. The leg fastening arrangement in this modification provides a less expensive gown and a more easily laundered one.

The shoulder and sleeve sections 54 and 56 will not hamper the putting on of the gown because of the large front opening 32. Thus, this modification retains all the benefits of ease of application gained from modification 1, while increasing the area of the body covered.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the lower front section leg fastening arrangement is exactly the same as that shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The novel and improved characteristic of this embodiment resides in the opening along the side of the gown. There is no front opening comparable to front opening 32 in Figs. 4 and 5, but the embodiment has a side placket 60 along the shoulder section between a front section 62 and a rear section 64. This placket extends from neck opening 66 to end of sleeve 68. The placket extends further at 70 from the end of sleeve 68 to bottom of rear section 64. This forms a portion 74 capable of being folded back as shown at 76 in Fig. 6. This improvement allows the patient to be placed in the garment. In other words, the garment is laid open on the bed when the patient is raised slightly and the patient is placed on the panel 64. The front section is wrapped around the prone patient and the placket fastened. This side opening embodiment could readily use the leg fastener arrangement shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 if such were desired.

In all embodiments of the invention, the basic features of a shortened rear section, cooperating with means for 4 fastening the front skirt section to the legs of the wearer have been maintained. It should be understood that other suitable leg fasteners could also be used with the three embodiments and still be within the scope of the invention.

In a general manner, while there has been disclosed in the above description, what is deemed to be the most practical and efiicient embodiment of the invention, it should be well understood that the invention is not limited to such embodiment as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claim.

I claim:

A hospital gown for the human body, comprising a front panel of first length and consisting of a torso section and skirt section, a rear panel complementary with said torso section and having a second length at least about one-half of said first length, said rear panel and torso sections joined along portions of their complementary edges and having a neck-receiving opening and arm openings defined therebetween, said torso section being cut from said neck-receiving opening to substantially said skirt section to provide a relatively wide opening for placing the gown on the human body, means to close said cut, the bottom portion of said skirt being provided with a T-shaped cut, defining a pair of horizontally disposed leg-encircling tabs at a lowermost part of said skirt, and fasteners cooperating with said tabs and the lower part of the garment, for holding said tabs in a legencircling position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 502,113" Chambers July 25, 1893 1,354,352 Stookey Sept. 28, 1920 1,411,562 Christian Apr. 4, 1922 1,424,013 Hale July 25, 1922 2,336,008 Goodman Dec. 7, 1943 

